Why sleepout?

The aim of the St Albans Sleepout is to raise awareness of homelessness in Hertfordshire.

Five local charities, Centre 33, Emmaus, Herts Young Homeless (hyh), Open Door and The Living Room will benefit from the sponsorship you raise.

Our sleepout, hosted by Oaklands College, is one of the events replacing the St Albans Abbey Sponsored Sleepout which is not running this year because of building work.

Started by the Abbey and the Diocese in the 1990s, the sleepout has raised hundreds of thousands for the homeless charities taking part.

We’re confident, that with your help, we can make the St Albans Sleepout on Dec 7th a huge success and make a difference to vulnerable people across Hertfordshire this winter.

So will you brave a night in the cold?....

Now you know a little more about why you’ve chosen to sleep out, it’s time to choose which charity you would like to support.

Choose a charity

Time to choose which charity to support and change a homeless person’s life.

Click on your chosen charity to register your interest

Centre 33

Centre 33 is a charity and volunteer run drop-in centre which provides practical support for people in the St Albans area who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or otherwise socially or materially disadvantaged. Centre 33 provides a welcoming place to meet, hot food and drinks, toiletries, shower facilities and essential clothing as well as advice on other services visitors may be able to access for further help.

Centre 33 offers a unique service in St Albans and is run entirely by some 150 volunteers. In 2016, the Centre opened on almost 500 occasions and served 6,698 meals to an average of 14 visitors per session. The Centre is a recipient of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award given to volunteer groups in the UK. 2017 marks the 40th year since the Centre’s creation.

Emmaus

Emmaus Hertfordshire is a charity and social enterprise for 35 formerly homeless people (known as ‘companions’) who live in our community building in St Albans. We collect, refurbish, sell and deliver more than 35 tonnes of donated furniture every month in our six shops. The Emmaus ethos is based on the principle that people regain their self-esteem through work and support. Companions receive accommodation, full board, structured support and training and an allowance for personal use. Companions can stay as long as they need and are supported through to independent living.

Independent research using the Social Return on Investment methodology found that for every £1 invested in an Emmaus community there is an £11 social, economic and environmental return on investment.

Herts Young Homeless

Last year, Herts Young Homeless (hyh) worked with over 2,000 vulnerable people who were homeless or at risk of becoming so, providing vital support and helping them get their lives back on track.

hyh is a unique charity in Hertfordshire providing services to support vulnerable people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so. Their focus is on preventing homelessness – from education in schools and family mediation through to providing emergency accommodation for a young person in a volunteer’s home or supporting adults who have mental health needs and housing issues.

Open Door

The Open Door charity works to support homeless people and others who are vulnerable or at risk of homelessness. Our vision is to ensure that no-one should need to sleep rough in the St Albans area and to improve the life chances of homeless people in our community.

The charity established the night shelter and daytime drop-in centre in Bricket Road. This centre provides accommodation for up to 12 people and drop-in services offering advice on things like housing and health care. The charity also funds the Safe Streets Outreach Service which has operated from Open Door since 2011, with the aim of helping rough sleepers to lead a more settled way of life.

The Living Room

The Living Room provides adults and their families, living in Hertfordshire, with the treatment and support they need to break free from the generational cycle of addiction to substances and/or behaviours. The addictions we support include illicit and non-illicit drugs and alcohol as well as behavioural addictions such as eating disorders, self-harm, obsessive-compulsive behaviours, gambling, love and sex addiction. We offer free, non-time limited, daily treatment. Self-referrals are welcome.

Useful stuff to know

Venue info

In the event of poor weather inside space will be made available for sleepers.

Age restrictions

Children under the age of 11 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who will be responsible for their care during the event.

Children over the age of 11 (school year 7) are welcome from organisations such as scouts, schools or church youth groups but must be accompanied by a minimum of two adult leaders over 21 who are DBS checked.

For groups of more than 16 young people, an extra leader will be required for each additional 12 young people.

Adult leaders accompanying the group must be present at all times throughout the event and in the ratios stipulated.

For mixed gender groups there should preferably be one leader of each gender. Group leaders will be fully responsible at all times for the young people in their care and must bring the completed official registration forms.

Each young person must bring a completed sleepout registration form giving parental and medical consent.

Children over the age of 11 (school year 7) may attend as part of a one-off group. E.g. where parents supervise friends’ or relatives' young people as well as their own. Here no DBS registration is possible for leaders, but all other rules apply.

Registration

Registration starts at 9pm and will finish at approximately 10.30pm but if you arrive after this time someone will be around to register you.